Matthews’ Leafs Wins Battle with McDavid’s Oilers
EDMONTON – The Oilers have been at this worst-to-first rebuild plan a lot longer than Toronto.
But if the Maple Leafs play a modicum of defence, they can nudhe ahead the long process, which they showed at Rogers Place on Tuesday night. NHL leading scorer Connor McDavid was just one of many flustered Oilers as the Leafs bclosede ranks, leapt on Edmonton errors and scored four times on their initial 14 shots through 40 minutes. It gave them a 4-2 win to start a Western Canadian road trip. One of the loudest Leaf fan contingents heard here in years added to the visitors’ confidence as their record improved to 10-8-4.
Toronto, which chose Auston Matthews with the No. 1 overall a year after McDavid, had their teen get the opening goal and play an effective game. Matthews now has goals in three straight games, while the seven rookies on Toronto are playing better in their own zone of late.